Hello all, I posted a few days ago about a badly shifting tranny in my girlfriends '98 SSEi. Well, I put some more fluid in it today after noticing it was BONE DRY. We went to Safeway to grab some more when I looked under and noticed that at least a 1/4 of the quart I put in had already leaked out in the Safeway parking lot. It'* really leaking very quickly.

I'm planning on pulling it up on my ramps later to figure out if there might be a hole in the tranny or if it'* a leaking gasket.

I could potentially fix it myself, but I don't have the time to do it. Depending on what it is, how much would it cost at a shop? I'm going to determine what it is exactly first before taking it in, as I don't need to get hosed.

But if there is a hole in the pan or if it'* the gasket, what types of prices are we looking at?

If it'* just a gasket then it won't cost much to fix the LEAK. But if she was driving it with no tranny fluid the problems that that will cause will be even more expensive to fix. But find the problem and get back to us.

I found it. It'* the gasket. Seems to be leaking in two places total. I took a peak at the leak and wiped the tranny fluid off the pan and the gasket (which is sticking out) and watched the pools form in two spots on the tranny.

She'* taking it tomorrow to get a flush, so they should replace the gasket and filter with that. I told her to throw some of the fluid she bought tonight in before she takes it down there though, just to make sure. The tranny doesn't seem to be too damaged if at all. After some fluid gets in there, it seems to shift fine.

The girl asked me what'* the best way to keep the car a long time (after I noticed her oil pan had HUGE, HUGE dents in it. I don't know if it'* the previous owner, the car had over 140k on it when she bought it, or if it'* because she takes bumps a bit too hard, which I tell her not to) and I told her to take care of the maintainance and get regular oil changes. I then asked when the last time was that she had an oil change.... July 2005

I'm hoping this will make her realize that she needs to take better care of the thing. Especially considering I chastised her for not getting the oil changed

I ran 4 quarts out of my last SSEi and it still survived driving 100 miles with at least 4 quarts low before I relized it was slipping really bad. dumped some ATF and it was fine well the trans was not great to begin with but it did not get worse. However I sold the car a month later due to engine issues.

The gasket/filter and fluid would probably have cost you $25 and about an hour of time.

These engines and transmissions are very durable, sounds like she'* testing that though.

Maybe you can get her started in going to an oil change place where they put the sticker on the windshield. Seems like she needs that assistance.

A pan drop, filter change, and flush should run over 100 bucks. Pan drop and filter will run about half that without the flush. I'm concerned about the possible glazing of internal components from running dry.